Last week we began discussing that God does not want us to face life with timidity or cowardice, but with His power and His love and sound, stable mind!  In other words, we can have the tenacity that is a necessity to fulfill our destiny! This week, let’s discuss how! 10 Truths Toward Tenacity: 1. Tenacious people don’t waste time feeling sorry for themselves (Rom. 8:31). This generation is inundated with a victim’s mentality!  God does not want us to be victims, but victors!  Please allow me to share with you “6 Very Vivacious Victor Verbals”:  1. Life is not always fair. People are not...

I love to fish!  However, my favorite type of fish I like to catch is shark.  Many times I will fish right off the shore at night.  Normally, I’ll be all by myself with a head lamp on for illumination. Occasionally, when I fish at night a giant stingray will swallow my bait.  I’ve caught several stingray as big as a tractor tire.  For me, stingrays are the vermin of the ocean.  They are a total waste of time and it normally takes 30 minutes to an hour to bring in one of those giant stingrays.  They are extremely strong and...

Many years ago, we took a team of young people to Guatemala to share the gospel.  Our base camp was quite nice with western accommodations and food.  Mid-way through our mission trip, our entire team ventured well out into the country side to minister in some border villages.  We took up temporary residence in an old police hall.  It was one large hall with two small bathrooms for many people!  I must say at night it was very difficult to sleep. As I mentioned, it was one large hall which happened to be an acoustical nightmare.  However, the worst culprit when...

Over the last few weeks we began to talk with you about “Four Righteous Realms of Rest”: 1. Rest in the promises of God (II Pet. 1:3-4). 2. Rest in the power of a seed (Mark 4:26-28). Last week, we began discussing: 3. Labor to enter into the rest (Heb. 4:10-12). This week, let's continue...

Have you ever watched a court room drama?  After days of testimony, defendants and prosecutors, the lawyer finally looks to the judge and says, “Your Honor, I rest my case.”  Now when the attorney does this it does not indicate he is exhausted , but simply shows he is finished.  That’s exactly what I am talking about here in this series.  Jesus has done all the work and now we can simply rest in the promises of God! Over the last several weeks we have shared with you some biblical synonyms for the concept of “rest” contained within the Word of...

A few summers ago I was invited to speak at a ministers conference in Memphis. I had just finished my normal three weekend services and had gotten very little sleep during that particular weekend. On Monday we traveled to Memphis for this three-day event. For whatever reason, I simply could not get to sleep in this hotel. Over the two nights I was there I think I probably got a total of an hour or two of sleep over both nights. Over Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I was on virtually no sleep. Now I haven’t had caffeine for approximately 21 years...

Over the last couple of weeks we also began to share with you “Four Righteous Realms of Resting”: 1. Rest in the promises of God (II Pet. 1:3-4). Within this section we discussed the Greek word for “promises” found in II Pet. 1:3-4 is the Greek word epiangelos which literally means “over the word of an angel.” We can rest in the promises of God because they are more reliable than the word of an angel! This week, let's continue: “Pastor Jim, how do I practically rest in those promises?” It really is quite simple: 1. Believe the promises of God 2. Speak the promises...

One night, I was having a very difficult time getting to sleep.  Finally, I got to sleep around 5:00am.  Many years ago I trained myself to go to sleep with someone on CD teaching the Word of God.  As I always do, I turned on the CD player and finally drifted off to sleep.  Because I had not gotten to sleep until early in the morning, my sleep was erratic and filled with many crazy dreams. Only about a half an hour into my sleep I began to wake up.  I was in that hazy spot between sleep and consciousness.  I heard...